• Fuhlsbüttel Concentration Camp and Prison Memorial 1933-1945
In 1987, a memorial was established in the gatehouse - built in 1897 - of the Fuhlsbüttel prison in the vicinity of Hamburg. It commemorates the fate of those who were imprisoned here between 1933 and 1945 in various departments and during various phases of the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp.
Image: Hamburg, 1920s, Fuhlsbüttel Prison, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
Hamburg, 1920s, Fuhlsbüttel Prison, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme

Image: Hamburg, 2003, Memorial in the gatehouse on Suhrenkamp street, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
Hamburg, 2003, Memorial in the gatehouse on Suhrenkamp street, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
Beginning July 1933, the Hamburg Staatspolizei (»state police«, the political police of Hamburg) incarcerated about 2,000 opponents of the National Socialist regime in the derelict buildings of the Fuhlsbüttel prison. On September 4, 1933, the prison was officially opened as the »Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp«, making it one of the first concentration camps in the German Reich. Most of the prisoners at Fuhlsbüttel were political opponents of the regime, members of the communist or the socialist party or trade unionists. From the autumn of 1933 on, the Staatspolizei also imprisoned people deemed »asocial« or »harmful to the nation«, such as petty criminals, procurers, homosexuals or transvestites. Jews and Jehovah's Witnesses were also incarcerated here by the state police. In 1934, a women's ward was set up. The prisoners at Fuhlsbüttel were regularly abused by the guards and many died as a result. Some of the prisoners were deployed as forced labourers in the construction work of the Fuhlsbüttel airport. From 1936 on, the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp was renamed »police prison«, however, the conditions for the prisoners didn't change. It continued to be administered by the Gestapo and remained in existence until 1945. On October 25, 1944, the SS additionally set up a satellite camp of the Neuengamme concentration camp in a part of the Fuhlsbüttel prison building. About 1,500 prisoners were kept there, and conducted forced labour in construction and clean-up work on buildings damaged by air raids. The strenuous work and insufficient supplies resulted in the death of 2 to 3 prisoner deaths per day. In all, over 270 prisoners perished, thus making Fuhlsbüttel, next to Husum-Schwesing and Ladelund, one of the satellite camps with the highest death rate in Northern Germany. On February 15, 1945, the SS dissolved the camp and brought the prisoners to the »Dessauer Ufer« satellite camp.
Image: Hamburg, 1920s, Fuhlsbüttel Prison, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
Hamburg, 1920s, Fuhlsbüttel Prison, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme

Image: Hamburg, 2003, Memorial in the gatehouse on Suhrenkamp street, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
Hamburg, 2003, Memorial in the gatehouse on Suhrenkamp street, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
A majority of the inmates at the »Fuhlsbüttel police prison« were political opponents of the National Socialist regime; later, so-called asocials, petty criminals and homosexuals were also incarcerated here. The state police imprisoned many thousands of people here: between 1933 and 1934 there were about 600 to 800 protective custody prisoners and 2,000 to 4,000 criminal detainees. In 1944, the Fuhlsbüttel satellite camp was set up and about 1,500 men had to conduct forced labour there. They mostly came from the Soviet Union, Poland, Belgium, France, Denmark and the Netherlands. During the existence of the satellite camp from October 25, 1944 to February 15, 1945, about 270 prisoners known by name perished.
The total number of victims of the Fuhlsbüttel prisons is estimated to be around 500.
Image: Hamburg, undated, Reinhold Meyer, a member of the White Rose resistance group in Hamburg, died on November 12, 1942 at the Fuhlsbüttel police prison, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
Hamburg, undated, Reinhold Meyer, a member of the White Rose resistance group in Hamburg, died on November 12, 1942 at the Fuhlsbüttel police prison, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme

Image: Hamburg, around 1929, Fuhlsbüttel Prison, KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
Hamburg, around 1929, Fuhlsbüttel Prison, KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
Several initiatives were campaigning for the creation of a memorial at Fuhlsbüttel since 1982. In 1987, a memorial presenting a permanent exhibition was opened in the old gatehouse of the Fuhlsbüttel prison complex. On September 4, 2003, on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the concentration camp, a new permanent exhibition was opened. The »Fuhlsbüttel Concentration Camp and Prison Memorial 1933-1945« is a branch of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial.
Image: Hamburg, 1920s, Cell in Fuhlsbüttel Prison, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
Hamburg, 1920s, Cell in Fuhlsbüttel Prison, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme

Image: Hamburg, undated, View of the exhibition, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
Hamburg, undated, View of the exhibition, Archiv KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme
Name
Gedenkstätte Konzentrationslager und Strafanstalten Fuhlsbüttel 1933-1945
Address
Suhrenkamp 98
22335 Hamburg
Phone
+49 (0)40 428 131 500
Fax
+49 (0)40 428 131 501
Web
https://fuhlsbuettel.gedenkstaetten-hamburg.de/
E-Mail
stiftung@gedenkstaetten.hamburg.de
Open
Sunday: 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Guided tours available by appointment.
Possibilities
Guided tours and talks with eyewitnesses on Sundays.